Matt Drudge gives rare interview on WTOP Friday

WASHINGTON — More than the gridlock in Washington, political commentator Matt Drudge is concerned with immigration and the situation at America’s border.

“I know there are big fights throughout the country,” he says. “Virginia just said, ‘No, don’t bring immigrants here from the border en masse.’ And Speaker Pelosi is going down to the border this weekend.”

Drudge, creator of drudgereport.com, gave a rare interview on Friday when he stopped by the glass-enclosed nerve center and sat down with Hillary Howard and Shawn Anderson.

Drudge said he was in Washington because, “I grew up here — I grew up just up the road where 16th turns into Silver Spring, Takoma Park.”

Drudge talked about how D.C. has changed, how the summer is shaping up news-wise and the state of the media business.

“The D.C. I’m seeing now is so vibrant. This is the center, this is the heartbeat of the nation, for good or bad,” he says.

The commentator says it’s an exciting time to be in news. “It’s not going away anytime soon, and I approach it every time I get in front of a computer as ‘This is exciting. This is not old. This is not boring. … And the more people involved, the better.”

When asked how he felt about an increasingly partisan press, Drudge says, “But the country is divided. All of these polls are always divided. Capitol Hill is divided. How can you say the airwaves or the website should not be divided. We are.”

As for the future, Drudge says, “We’re into an interesting summer here. We’re only about a week into it, I’m sensing some heat. And not just from the temperature outside, I think things are heating up in many respects.”